Networked System Administration Tools from Sun Microsystems

The Solaris Management Console 2.0 (SMC) provides a suite of network-aware system administration tools that enable you to manage a Solaris server from almost anywhere. SMC software also provides a consistent, easy-to-use interface for managing and administering a Solaris server, the clients of the server, and the applications running on the server. In this article, Solaris system administration expert Janice Winsor shows you how to use the various tools of the SMC.

With the advent of the Solaris Management Console 2.0 (SMC)introduced
in the Solaris 8 Update 3 (1/01) releaseSun Microsystems, Inc., provides a
suite of network-aware system administration tools.

With SMC, you can manage a Solaris server from almost anywherefrom a
browser, from any Solaris workstation or server, from a Windows NT server, or as
a standalone system. You can also plug SMC into other systems'
consoles.

SMC software provides a consistent, easy-to-use interface for managing and
administering a Solaris server, the clients of the server, and the applications
running on the server. You can use the SMC console to monitor and tune
applications and to administer user-written or third-party applications and
tools.

In addition to the base components of the Solaris Operating Environment, you
can consolidate the management functions of Solaris-branded optional products in
SMC. The interface provides a familiar X Window look and feel, with
point-and-click navigation, tab panels, and wizards.

The SMC Toolbox

SMC uses a toolbox as a common user interface to provide a view of various
system administration tools or applications. A toolbox enables you to group
tools in a consistent hierarchy. An SMC toolbox is a hierarchical collection of
folders, tools, legacy applications, and links to other toolboxes that have been
registered with the smcconf(1M) command. The root toolbox is called
Management Tools. The default behavior of SMC is to look for a toolbox on the
host system (This Computer) and link to it when SMC is started.

UsersUse to set up and maintain user accounts, user
templates, groups, mailing lists, and administrative roles and rights. Grant or
deny rights to users and administrative roles, to control the specific
applications that each user and role can work with and which tasks each can
perform.

Services:

Scheduled JobsUse to schedule, start, and manage
jobs.

Storage:

Mounts and SharesUse to view and manage mounts, shares, and
usage information.

DisksUse to create and view disk partitions.

Devices and Hardware:

Serial PortsUse to configure and manage existing serial
ports.

You can use the SMC Toolbox Editor, described later, to change the default
configuration.